Convicted rapist gets a life sentence

Friday, August 25, 2006 The man robbed these children of their childhood and innocence, the judge said. By PETER H. MILLIKEN VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER YOUNGSTOWN — A rapist convicted of molesting three young girls is going to prison for a mandatory life term. Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge John M. Durkin sentenced Alfie Sloane, 28, to eight life prison terms to be served concurrently in Lorain Correctional Institution on each of eight counts of rape. At Thursday's sentencing, Judge Durkin also imposed seven consecutive five-year terms for seven counts of gross sexual imposition and an eight-year consecutive term for attempted rape, for a total of 43 years to be served before the life term. Sloane was charged with molesting three girls, ages 6, 10 and 11, in his Youngstown residence in 2000 and 2001. The victims now range in age from 11 to 16. During Sloane's jury trial, eight children testified they were either molested or witnessed sexual acts. The audience at the sentencing included families of victims and two of the victims. Five deputy sheriffs were in the courtroom during the sentencing hearing. Judge's comments "I hope for the sake of the victims and your families that, with the passage of time and with the closure that this case now brings to you, that you can heal," the judge said. "The defendant robbed these children of their childhood and robbed them of their innocence, and it is certainly my obligation to ensure that this never happens again," the judge added. Assistant County Prosecutor Dawn Krueger called for the eight life sentences for rape to be imposed consecutively, meaning one after another. However, Defense Atty. John Juhasz told the judge: "A life sentence is a life sentence. ... Consecutive life sentences is simply piling on." "Not only did he molest my girls, my whole family had to deal with this," the mother of two victims said in court. "So it was like the whole family has been molested." She called for maximum sentencing. Krueger read in court a statement in which the grandmother of a victim wrote: "My grandchildren and the other children he violated in one way or another will never be the same. He took the childhood from my granddaughter and made her his personal sex object. ... Please help keep this man from doing this to another person's child."